Photograph
by strawberrynotes
Summary: Memories. That's all they have now. Photographs illuminated with memories to remind them of their happiness...one-shot. Dedicated to an outstanding painter; my best-friend, Lexa.


_Photograph: Memories. That's all they have now. Photographs illuminated with memories to remind them of their happiness..._

_Rated: K_

_Dedicated to: An outstanding painter; my best-friend, Lexa._

_A/N: First of all, a huge thank-you for clicking on this story. Just one single hit is all it takes for me to feel special.(; And second, you should know that this takes place after Sonny and Chad's breakup; (AU) the real reason behind it. And third, read, review…and finally, enjoy! :D And a quick side-note, the italics are in the past, but so is when Sonny is reminiscing while looking at the photographs, though it is not in italics. It may be confusing, but oh well. (P.S. If you don't want to read any gush, you may skip to the bolded title. :P)_

_To Alexa, _

_for the past and present dancing (life) lessons. _

_The Patrick to my SpongeBob; my best-friend. And for that I am forever grateful, dear. :") Have an amazing 13th birthday, love! You deserve it, more than anyone, dearest Lexa. :) OH! Wait! I'm not done yet...read all that's below to make your mascara run. ;') You've strippled me, Lexa. :") Making everything just a little more delightfully crazy with your humor and charming attitude. Keep drawing. Loving life. And dancing without music.(: _

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><p><strong>Photograph <strong>

_The lesson I've learned the most often in life, is that you're always going to know more in the future than you know now._ ~Taylor Swift

**_This a clock upon the wall, this is the story of us all_**

~ August, 2016 ~

_Santa Clause._

_Unicorns._

_The Tooth-fairy._

_Prince Charming and Cinderella._

Fairytales.

Alexa Dylan Cooper believed in it all.

Flowers.

Rainbows.

Butterflies.

Sunshine_._

The **limitation** of fun is because of lack of **imagination**.

Alexa picked up a crayon, gripping it in her short, chubby fingers. When she put it to paper she pressed harder, as if only by doing so the color would transfer. 5-year-old Alexa finished her picture, smiling proudly at it as she held it out. Mommy and daddy holding hands, and a little girl in the middle with long brown hair and big brown eyes.

Scrambling to her feet, she raced to show her artwork to her mommy.

"Hey, sweetheart," she greeted her imaginative little girl with a smile.

Alexa quickly handed her the piece of paper, wasting no time at all. "Wook!"

And upon seeing her daughter's drawing, Sonny is taken back in time.

**_Pictures of you, pictures of me  
>Hung up on your wall for the world to see<em>**

~January, 2010~

Sonny sat in front of her vanity, staring at her reflection in the mirror. Her gaze traveled to a hidden picture, buried underneath scripts. She pulled it from the stack of papers only to wish she hadn't.

"To my biggest fan, Chad"

The handwriting was unforgettable, just like the picture itself.

Chad.

She reflected on how they first met, how they finally admitted their hidden feelings for each and finally, how they broke up. And after finding a whole stack of pictures of them together, she reflected on how truly happy they were.

~June, 2010~

_"So, where are we going?" Sonny looked over at him in the driver's seat and waited for a reply._

_"Atlantis." Chad's smile revealed everything as he stared at the road straight ahead._

_"Shut up. I mean, really."_

_"Fine...Candy-Land." Her eyes rolled as his grin widened._

_"I'm being serious."_

_"So am I." Chad turned his head to glance at her, smiling at the sight of her._

_They're at the beach; Sonny's head is thrown back, laughing at something, and Chad is that something. He's making a funny face while holding the camera out, snapping the picture, capturing the memory on film._

The brunette turned to the next picture, smiling willing at this one.

~July, 2010~

_"Come with me," he helped her up from the sand and tugged at her hand. Sonny complied because she was much too curious._

_"Where are we—Ahhh!" Before she even got to ask, Chad had his arms wrapped around her waist, walking out into the ocean, stopping when the water reached his knees._

_"Please, God, no!" she screeched, her legs wrapping around him, clinging to him for dear life._

_And when her fear subsided slightly she met his mysterious blue gaze. "You're beautiful."_

_Sonny looked down, obviously blushing at her boyfriend's compliment. "Hardly." Was her flat reply._

_Chad simpered then, looking pleased with himself. "You can't deny me now, Munroe." he whipped out his camera from his pocket._

_"Oh God," she mumbled under her breath._

_"I'll let go…" he teased with a smirk._

_There was no escape now._

_"Fine," Sonny told him through clenched teeth and then quickly flashed a smile at him._

Her smile has disappeared now and she quickly turned to look at the next frozen memory.

~August, 2010~

_"Please?" Sonny's sad puppy dogface was irresistible._

_No way around it._

_"Fine, we can go," her boyfriend caved so easily, interlacing his fingers with hers._

_"Yay," she grinned as they made their way through the crowd at the carnival, and towards the Ferris wheel._

_There they sat; on top of the Ferris wheel, on top of the word—or so it felt._

_"Jerk," Sonny stuck her tongue out at Chad like a preschooler for not sharing any of his cotton candy._

_He took advantage of this moment and fed her a bite of her pink cotton candy. "Here,"_

_She smiled, swallowing, and then playfully punched his arm. "Thank you."_

_Chad smiled, leaning in closer to whisper in her, slowly and tantalizing. "I have a surprise for you, Munroe…"_

_Sonny looked down and blushed, slowly raising her eyes to look at him._

_Flash._

Sonny could still feel the heat from his breath, the gentle words pouring from his mouth onto her skin. And when she turned to look at another picture, tears sprung at her eyes.

~September, 2010~

_"I love you."_

_Possibly the most dangerous three words._

_But the scary part is when these are said:_

_"I love you, too."_

_A smile tugged at his lips hearing those words and moved in towards her, slowly brushing his lips against hers. Paused in the play of their kiss, Sonny gently pulled away; she knew she would get addicted to the kiss. There were only inches between each other; and they smiled at each other._

_Snap.  
><em>

Her smile was involuntary, and she absolutely hated it. But when she turned the picture over, it was a whole different story.

I love you.

It was in_ his_ handwriting.

**_Confess to me, every secret moment, every stolen promise you believe  
><em>****_Confess to me, all that lies between us, all that lies between you and me_**

_Chad stood in the doorway of her dressing room, smiling at her. "Hey,"_

_Her head shot up at the sound of his voice and she caught sight of him in the mirror. Turning the pictures over, she shakily shoved in the open drawer. "What are you doing here, Chad?"_

_Their friendship was strictly business._

_"What's in there?" Completely avoiding her question, he pointed to the drawer she had just shut with an eyebrow raised._

_Just by glancing at him, she knew that he had saw with his sparkling blue eyes. "Doesn't matter. It's in the past now."_

_Sonny's words stung, but only for a second; she didn't say they weren't good memories._

_Chad smiled. "Never could get enough, huh?"_

_Oh, God…did he mean?_

_"Of you?" she laughed at that as she stood up from her chair, only to find herself face to face with him when she turned around._

_Chad stared down at her, showing no emotion on his face, but his words uncovered everything. "You really are beautiful..." he gently lifted his hand to stroke her pale, peach tinted cheek but she retreated._

_Sonny ducked her head down, almost instinctively, so he got the message. "Chad, don't."_

_All it took was an irrevocable step towards her._

_Her plead wasn't enough to stop him._

_Smiling and folding her hands in his and bringing them to his chest, Chad finally confessed. "I'm sorry, Sonny—for hurting you like I did…for everything. And I mean it this time. I was stupid. God, was I stupid for letting you slip through my fingers," she was about interrupt him, but he continued so she couldn't. "Look, I know second chances don't come around that often, but, I was hoping this could be an exception."_

_Sonny was silent—still. She gazed at him with her chocolate brown eyes, and more than anything, he wished he knew what she was thinking._

_Chad took advantage of the silence between and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before speaking softly. "An empty frame, in which the picture is always changing, making a statement about time is always changing. It doesn't really stop, even in a single image. It just feels that way."_

_The thought of tilting her head upwards to kiss him sustained her, but it quickly washed away._

_She could feel the tears stinging in her eyes._

_He'd confessed and now it was her turn._

_But after placing her hands on her stomach, the life that was growing inside of her, that little heartbeat—she just couldn't._

_"I'm sorry, Chad. I can't...I can't do this."_

_Chad paled with emotion, and was seized with impotent anger and confusion. "Why? I've changed, Sonny, I swear—"_

_She reluctantly pulled away, slowly letting their hands part._

_His forlorn expression was the last thing she saw before she walked away, for the last time._

_Silence and absence took over then, leaving him to murmur; "I love you."_

**_We could have been..._**

~August, 2016~

Alexa's eyes big brown eyes sparkled with anticipation. "So...do you wike it mommy?"

Sonny smiled down at her and turned her attention to the scribbled picture. "I do, Alexa." Seeing Alexa's wide grin made every sacrifice worth it. "I do."

**Time is fleeting. And forever is always changing. Best thing to do is live in the moment.**

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><p><em>AN: TADA! :D A reminder for the readers: review! I would love to hear your thoughts...(: _

_My inspiration was the one and only Lexa. I know, I know; to say this sucked would be an understatement. But I did, however, try my hardest for you, Alexa. And a multi-dedicated one-shot is in the works for you; a belated friendship gift. And this one, I pinky promise, will be worth reading, though it will take me a year to finish. :P Happy thirteenth birthday, dearest Lexa! *bear hugs* Have a good one!(: Love youuuuu! ~ck_

_P.S. And yes, I did write the bolded quote at the end of the story. :) Like it?_


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